


Boondocks + Umbrella + Swiss Army Knife

by Kerkerian



Category: Kingsman (Movies), MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Friendship/Love, Gadgets, Gen, Humor, Protective Jack, Teensy bit of hurt/comfort, bit of whump, improvising, unexpected encounters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29262795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerkerian/pseuds/Kerkerian
Summary: During a mission that appears to be going sideways even before it's really started, Mac and Jack meet someone unexpected: a "tailor". So, when their best chance is to work together, it turns out that the guy's got just as many tricks up his sleeves as his two new acquaintances from the "think tank". And that's not the only thing they've got in common...
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	Boondocks + Umbrella + Swiss Army Knife

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own MacGyver or Kingsman.
> 
> It's not necessary to be familiar with both fandoms to read this.

“...hear me, bruv?”

Mac tried to turn his head away from the noise. And the slapping. Someone was slapping him on the cheek.

Blinking, Mac squinted at the blurry figure looming over him, which now slapped him again: “S'op,” he slurred.

“Oh, hey, you with me now? Merlin, I think he's coming 'round.”

_Merlin?_

“This... Camelot?” Mac muttered. Had he successfully been experimenting with quantum mechanics?

“Oh boy, seems like he's hit his head pretty hard,” the figure murmured.

They were speaking with a British accent, which would support Mac's assumption. Also, it was beginning to rain. Didn't it always rain on the British Isles, or was that just a prejudice?

He blinked again, doing his best to focus on the owner of the voice: he wasn't wearing a a suit of armour but an ordinary suit, and he seemed around Mac's age.

“We're in Romania, bruv,” he now said. “Think you can sit up?”

Mac took his offered hand; admittedly, he wouldn't have managed without the stranger's help. As soon as he was upright, however, he felt nausea welling up in him, and he only just turned sideways in time before throwing up. The stranger never let go of him but grabbed his shoulders instead, steadying him.

“Thanks,” Mac muttered when he the bout was over. He was shaking and rather grateful for the calm presence next to him.

“No problem.” Straightening up, the guy gave him a brief grin and handed him a bottle of water. “I'm good at improvising.”

“Something we've got in common, then.” Mac gratefully took the bottle; he spit out a few times to get rid of the sour taste in his mouth, then he drank a bit of the water, though he still felt queasy, and he had a mean headache.

“I'm Eggsy, by the way.”

“Eggsy?”

“Correct. At least your hearing seems to be working fine.”

“Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. That being said- I'm Angus. MacGyver.”

“Oh, well- seems we're even in the name department. You don't sound Scottish though, Angus.”

“I'm not. I'm from California. And call me Mac, please.”

Eggsy raised his eyebrows: “So what are you doing, parachuting into the Romanian boondocks in this kind of weather?”

Admittedly, it was rather windy too. Not exactly ideal for jumping out of a plane.

Mac frowned, because the exact circumstances were momentarily eluding him. He felt so muzzy he could barely think straight. “I dunno,” he muttered. “What are _you_ doing here, dressed like that?”

Now that his vision had improved somewhat, he could tell that the suit Eggsy was wearing was bespoke and probably cost more than Mac's monthly salary.

“Would you believe me if I told you I was a botanist?” Eggsy said with a wry grin. “Naw, thought so. I'm a tailor.”

Mac regarded him: that would explain his suit, but had the frame of his glasses blinked a little just now?

“Would you believe me that I'm an engineer working for a think tank?” he countered.

Eggsy shrugged: “Judging from how you don't seem very skilled with the whole parachuting business...” he said.

“Fair enough.” Mac briefly closed his eyes; his head was hurting somewhat fierce. “I have a fear of heights. It's okay as long as I don't look down.”

“But you did.”

“Kinda.”

“Well, the good news are that you're still in one piece. Hit your head hard though, and I'm not sure about the rest yet. Maybe you should try to walk.”

“Give me a minute,” Mac muttered, swallowing, and Eggsy nodded, though something about him gave the impression that he was trying very hard not to look at his watch. Or at the sky; the rain, which so far had only consisted of a fine drizzle, was now ratcheting up, and Eggsy suddenly had an umbrella in his hand, which he opened and held over the two of them.

Mac was puzzled: who went... well, whatever it was that Eggsy was doing out here not only in a suit but with an _umbrella_? The thing seemed sturdy enough, considering how the wind was picking up somewhat fierce too, but still.

While Mac did his best to fight down the nausea that was assailing him once more, something was scratching at the edge of his awareness.

“I wasn't alone,” he said suddenly. “Jack. We gotta find my partner.” Startledly, he made to get up, but his body had other ideas.

With a pained gasp, Mac fell back: “Son of a-” he wheezed, pressing an arm against his ribs.

“Yeah, I thought you might have hit those rocks over there,” Eggsy said sympathetically. “You also got scratches on your face.”

Mac struggled to get his breathing back under control; when he finally did, he slowly got to his feet with measured movements. For a moment, he swayed on the spot, and Eggsy quickly grabbed his arm to support him: “All right?” he asked.

Breathing through his nose, Mac nodded: “How... could I... forget... about Jack?” he muttered.

“Beats me,” Eggsy said. “To be fair, you also thought you're in Camelot. Which is fictional, innit?”

Mac refrained from rolling his eyes: “I know.” He began to open the straps of his parachute so he could slide out of the harness. The last one wouldn't open, so he had to cut that through with his knife.

“You gonna be okay for now?” Eggsy regarded him. “I mean, you might be concussed for all we know. Can you walk though?”

Mac nodded, but aborted the movement because of the pain that was shooting through his head afresh. His ribs seemed bruised, his left knee was smarting and his entire body was complaining about the treatment it had received, but he didn't think he'd broken anything. “I'll be fine,” he said, tapping his ear piece. “Jack?”

He didn't hear anything, not even static.

Mac tapped it again: “Matty? Do you read me?”

Nothing. He pulled out his phone next; there was no reception whatsoever though.

“Merlin?” Eggsy now said. “Did you get a reading earlier?”

He listened, then shook his head: “Sorry. Because of the weather and insufficient satellite transmission, we don't have any way of knowing where your partner went down. My... colleague is working on it, though.”

“Appreciate it,” Mac muttered. “Okay, I'll go that way.” He pointed in the general direction of the rock formation that had ended his descent earlier.

“How about we give the satellite a chance first?”

“Jack could be in danger,” Mac said, “or maybe he's injured as well. I'd rather not lose any more time.”

Eggsy held up a finger, listening: “Two minutes tops,” he said. “I know how you feel, believe me, but let's let Merlin work his magic, okay?”

Mac sagged a little: “Okay.”

“Good. Let's wait in the car, then.”

“You got a _car_?”

Eggsy motioned towards their right with his head, and really, there was a Landrover Mac hadn't even noticed before: “Yeah, the one I almost ran you over with earlier.”

“I _really_ must have hit my head hard,” Mac muttered. He was grateful that Eggsy found him, however; his guts told him that it was alright to trust the guy, and he didn't have any other options anyway.

The rain was coming down really hard now, and Mac was glad to be out of it for a moment while they waited, but he kept thinking of Jack being out there somewhere, which made it hard to stay patient; he felt that he was wasting valuable time.

“Okay,” Merlin eventually said in Eggsy's ear. “You're in the boondocks all right. I got another satellite online now, and I may have found something. It's hard to tell though.”

Ten minutes later, Mac was soaked to the skin, because a) it proved difficult for two people to run under one umbrella, and b) Mac didn't care if he got wet.

Eggsy once more marvelled at the power of adrenaline; Mac was running as if he wasn't concussed and altogether rather battered at all. Fortunately, the rain lessened a bit after a while. By the time they reached the coordinates Merlin had given them, Eggsy was winded nevertheless, and his shoes and socks were wet.

“It must be somewhere around here,” he called.

Mac kept looking up into the treetops and walked on while he did so, but the he stopped abruptly, lifting a hand in warning. Eggsy heard it as well: there was a motor. It sounded like a large vehicle, and then there was shouting. They proceeded to move a bit more cautiously, if not necessarily slower, until they saw movement. Crouching behind some shrubs, they watched as a group of men, all dressed in black and heavily armed, got into a large black ATV which then drove off.

Mac turned around to Eggsy with a pale face: “They've got Jack.”

“Are you sure? Maybe it's-” Eggsy broke off when Mac pointed at something to their right. There, underneath a group of trees, was Jack's parachute.

“All right. Merlin?”

“On it.”

On their way back to the Landrover, Mac couldn't hide a limp that hadn't been there before. Both of them were relieved to get out of the rain, but Eggsy, thanks to the waterproof cloth his suit was made of, wasn't nearly as wet as Mac. Who didn't seem to care.

“Do you have a visual?” he asked, his mind clearly on the people who had taken Jack.

Eggsy tipped on a screen in the middle console, at which Merlin's face appeared: “Gentlemen,” he said in greeting, then he turned his attention to Eggsy. “Galahad- do you think it wise to reveal this much to a stranger?”

Eggsy smirked: “By now, you've already checked Mac out anyway. If you didn't think he's trustworthy, you'd have warned me.”

“Correct.” Merlin looked pleased.

Mac frowned: Riley had made sure that none of their team could be so easily “checked out”.

“And anyways, I can always shoot him with an amnesia dart later,” Eggsy now added, at which Mac furrowed his brow: “Tailors, huh?” he muttered.

“To answer your question, Mr. MacGyver,” Merlin now said, “They're headed northwestwards.”

“Funny,” Eggsy replied. “I was going in the same direction.”

Mac stared at him: “About a mile from here?” he asked feebly. “Track ends at a big mansion with a lot of fences and security?”

After a moment of comprehension, Eggsy smirked: “Sounds about right.”

“That's where the truck seems to be going,” Merlin confirmed.

Mac groaned: “Then we both know who's got Jack.”

Eggsy sighed: “That's right. Andreescu Jora. Arms dealer extraordinaire.”

“And we also know that our mutual objective is now expecting visitors,” Merlin said.

Frowning, Mac shook his head: “This doesn't make any sense. None of the security systems in Jora's mansion could have picked up on us, my team made sure of it.”

Merlin cleared his throat: “Except that I noticed that the signals in the area were malfuncioning and tried to fix the problem. I did assume, of course, that the weather was responsible.”

Now Eggsy and Mac groaned in unison.

“Look at it this way,” Merlin said. “You both got unexpected back up. Now all you need to do is coordinate.”

“You make that sound so easy,” Eggsy muttered, then he looked at Mac: “Well- seems like we've got no choice, bruv.”

“Yeah... What was that about an amnesia dart?” Mac asked.

Eggsy grinned: “Just kidding. So- what are we gonna do?”

“First of all,” Mac looked at Merlin. “Could you try and patch me through to my boss? I have a feeling I might not have a job anymore after this if I don't at least inform her that I'm going to collaborate with another agency.” He smirked. “Sorry. Tailor shop?”

While Eggsy just kept grinning, Merlin directed a pointed look at his agent: “You could take a leaf out of this young man's book, Galahad. Yes, Mr. MacGyver, I'll certainly do so. What's the number?”

Matty wasn't particularly happy to hear that not only Jack had been apprehended by the very people they were targeting but that another party was involved as well.

“Kingsman,” she said. “Does that have anything to do with the Statesman lot over in Kentucky?”

Merlin smiled non-commitally: “They do produce a fine bourbon, or so I hear,” he said, earning himself an eye-roll.

“Fine,” Matty then said. “Since we wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't interfered, it'd only be sensible to work together. The question is who gets Jora, once he's been detained.”

Mac, who was growing impatient because he was worried about Jack, spoke up: “We should get a move on,” he said. “We can deal with the bureaucracy later, but we can't wait any longer.”

Matty raised her eyebrows, but she could see how concerned Mac was, and of course, she was worried as well. Apart from that, Mac looked like a drowned rat and was shivering, which was tugging right at her heart strings; despite appearances, she'd always had a soft spot for the boy.

“Okay,” she therefore said. “You and Agent Galahad go ahead. Merlin and I will hopefully come up with a solution later.”

“Thanks, Matty,” Mac said, relieved.

“Take care, Blondie,” she said softly.

When Jack came to, he immediately knew what had happened. He blinked; some blood had crusted in the corner of his eye, which was rather unpleasant but still the least of his worries. He was lying on a cold, hard floor, his hands bound behind him. With a bit of an effort, he pushed himself into a sitting position, taking stock: he was a little dizzy, probably from being hit on the head, and his left shoulder hurt.

Right, he crashed into a tree rather ungently. He could tell that he had got scrapes and bruises all over, courtesy of that tree. None of which mattered right then, however, because he was alone in this rather dark room, which was bare and only had one small window underneath the ceiling: Mac was nowhere in sight. Jack gritted his teeth: they had lost visual contact during their descent, so he just hoped his partner was okay. He had to be.

Once the dizziness subsided, he managed to get to his feet.

The only door was made of heavy steel, and the window was barred from the outside. Even if he could have freed his hands, which were too tightly secured for that- well, Mac probably would have been able to get out of the restraints, he'd have nowhere to go. He paced around the room for a while, listening; he could hear the wind howling outside and once, what sounded like a slamming door, but apart from that, it was silent. He was getting cold too, partially because his clothes were still damp, so he kept moving, which, despite the fact that he couldn't do anything, was helping with the dizziness and better than sitting around anyways.

Getting in was suprisingly easy and _weird_ , given that they used Eggsy's umbrella as a shield to hide from the motion detectors which would otherwise have triggered the alarm once Mac had found a way to breach the fence.

“Let's just hope they don't have any dogs,” he muttered, but Eggsy shrugged: “Shouldn't be a problem.”

“What, you got a few steaks under that jacket?”

“Nah,” Eggsy gave him a brief grin. “I got other methods.”

“Clearly.” He paused. “Did you really plan on grabbing Jora on your own?”

“Nah,” Eggsy flashed him a grin. “My partner's on his way over from Japan. Since Jora suddenly started packing up, we had to change the schedule though. You know, improvise.”

“Yeah,” Mac muttered. It was also the reason why Jack and he parachuted in despite the storm. “Something seems to be going on. We couldn't get any intel on it though.”

Eggsy peered through the shrubs they were taking cover behind: “Guess we'll know soon enough.”

Jack didn't know how much time exactly had passed when he heard something. Immediately, he moved to the far wall. The heavy door opened almost soundlessly, but instead of some mean-looking thug, a young man in a suit peered in. “Thought I'd find you here,” he said in an English accent, all chipper, as if Jack should know who he was.

The latter frowned: “Excuse me?”

“I was looking for you,” the young man explained. “Your pal Mac said you had to be around here somewhere.”

“Who _are_ you?”

“Sorry. My name's Eggsy.”

Jack stared at him: “Is this some kind of joke?” It had to be. The guy looked like someone from Downton Abbey, and he was carrying an _umbrella_.

He seemed unfazed by Jack's incredulity: “Yeah, I get that a lot, but it ain't, bruv. So, unless you wanna stay here, you'd better get a move on. Let me take those off.” He nodded towards the restraints on Jack's wrists.

Jack didn't budge so easily: “Where's Mac?”

“We split up. He said he was gonna provide a distraction so we'd be able to sneak out after we grabbed Jora.”

“We, as in you and-” Jack would have pointed at himself, if his hands had been free.

“Yeah.”

“Okay- where did you come from and why are we working together?”

“Turns out we got the same objective. I almost ran your partner over with my car after he crashed his parachute-”

“He _crashed_? He alright?”

“Bit banged up, nothing he can't seem to handle.”

Jack tensed up, not liking Eggsy's choice of words, because Mac was damn good at playing down his injuries.

“Anyway,” Eggsy continued, “when we saw that Jora's people had picked you up, things developed from there. Your boss lady gave us her blessing, by the way.”

Still frowning, Jack pushed himself off the wall: “How do I know you're not making all of this up?”

“Mac expected you to say this. He said to tell you that no, he didn't think he owed you one for what happened in that cave in Belarus.”

Jack felt himself relax marginally; this was something only Mac could know. “'kay,” he said, nevertheless still not entirely convinced that this was a good idea, turning around and lifting his arms so Eggsy could free his hands. “So what's the plan?”

“I'll signal Mac once we're in Jora's office on the upper floor. He's currently in there, but probably not for long, since he's gonna want to have a word with you. We'll get in and grab him before he can notify security, and once Mac's set off the distraction, we'll scram.”

“Sounds about right,” Jack grumbled, rubbing his wrists. “How many guards?”

“Ten. Two right in front of the door, two at each end of the hall, two at the stairs, two in the office. Plus, there are two walking patrols downstairs.”

“Piece of cake, then,” Jack grumbled, as he followed the young man out of the room. “Especially since I don't got a gun.”

“I'm not carrying one either,” Eggsy said airily. “To be honest though- getting _in_ usually isn't even the hard part.”

Jack was about to argue, but then his gaze fell on the men who had been guarding the door to Jack's prison and who were currently out cold. “How did you knock these out? With your umbrella?”

Eggsy shrugged: “I improvised.”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers: “I hope I'm not gonna regret this,” he muttered.

Eggsy motioned towards the stairs: “Come on.”

Jack sighed and followed him. “So- what kind of name is Eggsy, anyway?”

Within the next twenty or so minutes, Jack learned a whole lot about his new acquaintance, for example, that he wasn't nearly as harmless (and defenseless) as he looked. In fact, he seemed to have that in common with Mac, just like the silly name and, apparently, a knack for improvising.

Even without any guns, they steadily made their way up to the upper floor, knocking out the patrols, the guards at the stairs and those at the end of the hall without any problems.

What they didn't expect was for two men of Jora's security entering the hall from the other side just as they were about to; fortunately, they had pulled the downed guards into a corner and just so managed to jump sideways behind two pillars, but no one paid their end any attention anyway, which was just as well, because the security people were pulling a struggling Mac along between them and disappeared in Jora's office with him.

“Damn it,” Jack muttered, “damn, damn, damn!”

Eggsy regarded him: “We could still go in.”

“Not this way.” Jack's jaw was working. “If we're just a millisecond too slow, they'll kill Mac the moment they see us. Can't risk it.”

“Is there any other way though?” Eggsy frowned. “The windows are visible from several of the security's positions.”

“I know.” Jack shook his head. “We gotta-”

Right then, however, the door opened again and the security guards came out again, a firm grip on their prisoner. Mac was still struggling, but one of the men fisted his hand in Mac's hair and pulled it back firmly, which looked very painful, and indeed, Mac's movements at once lessened considerably. To Jack's dismay though, they weren't headed towards him and Eggsy but the other way.

“Great,” he muttered under his breath. “If they had come through here, we could've just knocked them out.”

Since they couldn't just follow them down the hall due to the other set of guards at its end, they had to take the long way, which meant having to guess where Mac was being taken, since there was only one flight of stairs down to where Jack had been held, and that was where they had just come from. So it must be some other place, and they had no idea where to start.

“I don't have my earpiece anymore,” Jack panted while they ran downstairs. “Any chance your people could try and locate Mac as long as he still got his?”

“Merlin?” Eggsy asked without missing a beat.

For a moment, Jack was lost, but then Eggsy shook his head: “Sorry. Can't locate it.”

“Great,” Jack repeated, worry creeping up his spine. Eggsy stopped him by the arm, apparently listening to something else Jack couldn't hear.

“Merlin's located several heat signatures which then disappeared.”

They looked at one another.

“I've seen Downton Abbey,” Jack then said, considering the matter. “They didn't have a bunker though.”

“No, but Lord Grantham wasn't a spy either.”

“True. So where we headed?”

Following Merlin's directions, they moved towards the far side of the building. There was another, smaller one which might have housed the stables at one point, the perimeters of which were guarded as well. The rain had stopped in the meantime and it was getting dark by now, which only worked to their advantage; the guards never saw them coming, and when one of the security guys approached them, Eggsy lifted his wrist and _shot him with a miniature dart from his watch_.

“Did you just-” Jack began, torn between awe and jealousy because if what he had just seen really was what he had just seen, he wanted one too, but Eggsy shushed him, nodding towards the entrance: it was brightly illuminated by a flood light, there were two more guards, and above the door, a camera was mounted.

“Can't let them know we're coming,” he muttered.

Jack narrowed his eyes: “Look at that door. It looks like a vault.”

Eggsy blinked: “It probably is,” he said, tapping on his glasses.

“Sending you a picture now, Merlin.”

Merlin answered after a minute or so: “Yep. Once it's sealed from the inside, you can't open it from the outside unless you override the lock.”

“That's where Jora stores his goods, in plain sight and yet totally inaccessible.”

Jack really didn't like the sound of that. “So how does one override the lock?”

“By using a retina scanner and a key code. Jora's probably the only person who can do it.”

“Doesn't sound too complicated. I've always wanted to rip someone's eyeball out-”

“Ew.” Eggsy looked at Jack sideways. “That's messy, bruv.”

“And useless,” Merlin said. “The scanner recognizes if the owner of the eye has expired, so to speak.”

“Okay, Plan C then.” Jack was getting impatient. “We'll knock security out, go and grab that bastard and make him open the door!”

Eggsy considered this: “Seems like the only option,” he then conceded. “Merlin, can you do anything about that camera up there?”

“On it.”

“'kay.”

“How long do you think it'll take?” Jack asked.

Eggsy subdued a smile: he knew that the man was on edge because of his partner, and he could relate to that. “Patience's not your strong suit, huh?”

“Got it,” Merlin said. “It's now playing a loop of the past five uneventful minutes, that's all I could do.”

“All? That's great!”

“Unfortunately, not quite. It's not completely dark yet, and if the people inside notice that it's not getting completely dark soon, we're compromised. So you need to be quick. Jora's still in his office with two other people.”

“What about the guards in the corridors?”

“Two still moving.”

“Okay. Come on. Let's get Jora.”

Mac kept struggling even though he knew it was futile; his captors were about twice his size each. He hadn't paid enough attention to his surroundings earlier, a stupid mistake. To be fair, his head was killing him, and it was difficult to concentrate at all. And of course, he was used to Jack being there to have his six. Which admittedly didn't count as a very strong defense, and he could vividly imagine what Matty'd say to that.

Now, he was being taken into what looked like a bunker, down a set of stairs and another corridor, then into a small, dark room with a low ceiling where the men forced him down in order to secure him. Mac couldn't subdue a gasp when his injured knee hit the floor, and for a moment, he could barely breathe because of the pain. His captors roughly pulled his arms back and clasped something cold and hard around his wrists, then they left.

Mac sagged, trying to get a grip on himself; his eyes were streaming, and it took a moment until he could assess the new situation. He had actually been chained to the wall with what seemed like genuine iron shackles, and they were rather tight too; there wasn't any wiggle room.

Scooting backwards so that he could lean against the wall, Mac blinked into the perfect darkness of the room: it was a bit disconcerting that Jora's people hadn't locked Mac in the same basement they were holding Jack in. The odds really didn't seem in their favour; when Mac had been taken to Jora just now, the man had seemed livid.

He addressed Mac in Romanian, but when he realized that he didn't understand a word, he switched to English, albeit not talking to his captive this time but to his men; a classic intimidation technique, and a rather effective one, Mac thought to himself.

“Now there's two?” he had said quietly, which didn't bode well. “I really don't have time for this.” He paused. “Well. Take him into the bunker, I'll deal with him in a minute. Make sure that no one else gets in in the meantime though.”

Mac pondered this as he sat in the dark, running the tips of his fingers along the edge of the metal; his knee and his head were throbbing in sync with his heartbeat, and he felt slightly nauseous again. He really hoped that Eggsy had meanwhile found a way to get Jack out.

Jack held Eggsy back just as they were about to enter the corridor after having knocked out the two guards, because the door to Jora's office opened, and the man stepped out, flanked by two more of his men. Quickly, Jack and Eggsy positioned themselves when they realized that the small group was headed towards them, and before Jora knew what was happening, his guards were down and he found himself on the floor as well after having received a considerable electric shock like from a taser; things went a bit hazy.

“Did you do that with your _ring_?” Jack asked in awe while he searched Jora and removed a gun and a knife from his person, then secured his hands with a cable binder.

“Yeah. Comes in handy at times,” Eggsy said cheerfully.

Together, they pulled an unresisting Jora to his feet.

“This just worked out nicely,” Eggsy remarked while they made their way down the stairs.

When Jora realized what they were planning on doing, he tried to pull away, if rather weakly; Jack grabbed his head impatiently: “Stop that, you idiot. Eggsy, pull up his eyelid.”

Together, they managed to open the vault door; Jora refused to punch in the code at first, but he stopped resisting when Jack began to apply some more pressure to his already painfully twisted arm.

“Remember that our signal can't penetrate the bunker,” Merlin told Eggsy. “You'll be running blind as long as you're down there.”

“We better be quick, then,” Eggsy replied.

As a precaution, Jack clamped a firm hand over Jora's mouth as soon as the door was open so that he wouldn't be able to shout and warn the guards inside.

They went down another set of stairs, but before Eggsy could even peer around the corner, two things happened at once: the vault door closed again and there was the very audible sound of a gun safety being released.

“Stay right where you are,” a voice said from the corridor ahead of them. “Put your weapons down.”

Jora, who had visibly started to relax at first, frowned. “Who are you?” he asked, voice a little slurred.

“An interested third party, apparently.”

Jack and Eggsy exchanged a look: how had anyone else been able to get in without Merlin noticing it?

“Maybe they were already in here,” Eggsy mouthed. “Waiting for him.” He motioned towards their captive.

The voice now continued: “I'm not gonna wait long, fellas. We'd prefer to take Jora with us alive, but I'll shoot all three of you if I have to.”

Jack at least had the gun from Jora. It only had one clip though, and they didn't know how many more there were. Or what exactly they were doing in there, or how “in there” looked. Since backing out again wasn't an option either, they'd have to risk it, though.

Eggsy looked at Jack: “I'll distract him,” he mouthed.

Jack nodded. Right then however, there was an odd little noise followed by what sounded like a scuffle.

“You can come out now,” Mac's voice said softly, and Jack's face immediately lit up.

He pushed Jora towards Eggsy, closed the distance between them with a few long strides, quickly secured the guy Mac had just knocked out with cable binders too and handed his gun to Eggsy as well, then he got to his feet again and wrapped his arms around Mac, muttering something which ended with “kiddo”.

Eggsy felt himself reminded of Harry. He was glad to see that Mac seemed unharmed, apart from his already existing injuries.

He was trembling as Jack hugged him tightly, and not only from being cold: “I thought something had happened to you,” he muttered.

“No, I'm alright,” Jack said; his shoulder wasn't too bad, after all, he'd already forgotten about it. “You look a little rough, though.”

“I'm fine. They locked me up, took a moment to get out.”

Jack regarded him with narrowed eyes, knowing full well that Mac was fibbing; he was squinting in a tell-tale way that betrayed his headache, and he was holding himself a little lopsidedly. Jack decided to let it slide for now; there was nothing he could do at the moment anyway, and they needed to get on.

As if on cue, they heard people approaching in a run, and it was all they could do to duck out of the line of fire and back into the stairwell before the first shots rang out. Eggsy grabbed the unconscious guy and pulled him along: “Maybe he'll buy us some time.”

Jack, who kept firing to keep the advancing men back, looked over his shoulder: “So... we could just vamoose with Jora now, right? Lock everyone else up in here and leave the rest to the guys in black?”

“Sounds good to me,” Eggsy said.

Jora however snorted, as if he were amused. “We're not going to get out so easily,” he said.

“Why not. We got your eyeball and the code. I memorized it.”

“If the lock has been overriden, it won't open again for an hour.”

“What?”

“Security measures.”

“ _Stupid_ measures, if you ask me,” Jack muttered.

Jora snorted, nodding towards the unconscious man: “And those guys are militia. Even if there was a way- they'd kill us before we got the damn door open.”

Mac shook his head: “If we had some kind of...” He looked around. “I need a bullet and something that might act as an accelerant...” He patted down his jacket pockets.

Eggsy regarded him curiously as he handed him one of the bullets from the downed man's clip: “You think you can open the door?”

“Trust me,” Jack said, “if anyone can, it's him.” He frowned: “And I'm running low on ammo here.”

Eggsy pulled a lighter out of his pocket and flipped it open.

“What're you-” Jack began even as Eggsy threw it around the corner. A moment later, there was a detonation, and the fire stopped for a moment.

Jack looked awed: “You really gotta tell me where you get all these awesome gadgets!”

A few shots rang out as the first of their adversaries had recovered astoundingly quickly.

Jack he pulled the still unconscious man towards him: “Alright! If you don't want your pal here to end up with a bullet in his brain, you better cease fire!”

Mac had meanwhile run up the stairs, pulled out his knife and begun to work on the lock with what looked like chewing gum, the black powder from the bullet and whatever else he had gathered together.

The militia guys didn't seem to care about their comrade, they kept advancing on them.

“Any more of those lighter grenades?” Jack asked while he pulled back from the corner; he had already switched to their hostage's gun.

“Sorry,” Eggsy shrugged.

"Wouldn't have worked on the door anyway," Mac commented. "Need to destroy the locking mechanism with a different kind of blast-" He broke off. "Got it!"

"Perfect timing, I'm out," Jack said.

“Cover your ears!” Mac shouted from above, and a moment later, there was another blast, followed by an eerie metallic groan, then Mac pushed the door open by throwing himself against it and putting all his weight in.

Jack whooped, but the militia guys had heard it too and moved faster now.

Eggsy opened his umbrella: “I'll cover you. Take Jora, go!”

Frowning, Jack did as he said while Eggsy _fired at the guys with his umbrella_.

“Nobody's gonna believe this...” Jack panted as he hauled Jora up the stairs.

Eggsy followed him, and once they were outside, they pushed the door close again and leaned against it. Mac had already run off to find something to block it.

“We're out,” Eggsy told Merlin, but he didn't get a response. Instead, there was the sound of multiple weapons being released.

As Jack and Eggsy looked around, they found themselves surrounded by Jora's security guys, who were standing just inside the circle of light produced by the floodlight above the door.

Jack raised his gun and aimed it at Jora's head: “Better put those guns down,” he threatened.

“He's bluffing, he's out of ammunition,” Jora told his men.

Right then however, Eggsy clicked his heels together, at which a blade slid out of the tip of one. He took that one off and held the blade at Jora's throat: “I'm not though,” he said. “Blade's covered in a very powerful nerve agent that kills within seconds, and it's not pretty.”

Nervously, Jora swallowed, his eyes on the sharp blade: “Do as he says,” he then ordered his men, who, after a moment of stunned comprehension, lowered their weapons one after the other.

Jack was about to go and collect those when there was a shout, and then another problem presented itself: slowly, a man approached them out of the dark, with Mac in a chokehold and a gun to his head.

Cursing under his breath, Jack narrowed his eyes: “Gotta be the lookout for the guys inside.”

“Merlin?” Eggsy muttered again, to no avail. Maybe they had lost the satellite connection again.

Which was bad, because they had no way of knowing if there were more.

“You're gonna drop that blade and open that door,” said the guy who had Mac.

Jack could feel Eggsy tensing up next to him, and he himself was brimming with furious energy. He wanted to take the guy and rip him apart, but as it was, he was helpless. Mac looked at him resignedly: he knew exactly how unpromising their situation was right then.

“Terribly sorry to interrupt,” another voice unexpectedly said, and then someone else approached them. He was wearing a suit as well and the same glasses as Eggsy, and his left eye was covered by an eye patch. He was using an umbrella as a walking stick and didn't in the least seem bothered by the tense situation that was currently going on.

The man who was holding Mac glanced from Jack and Eggsy to him: “Stay the fuck back!”

Right then, Eggsy's comm crackled to life: “Sorry,” Merlin said. “Connectivity problems again. Ah, I see Harry's arrived. _Finally_.”

Ignoring him, Harry regarded Mac's captor: “I'd really prefer it if you didn't use such coarse language, young man.”

“What?”

Mac and Jack exchanged a confused look as well, but Eggsy was smirking: “That's Harry,” he muttered. “My boss.”

The newcomer continued: “Now, be a darling, drop your weapon and release your hostage, will you?”

The guy only reinforced his grip on Mac, jostling him as he pressed the gun directly against his temple: “Stay out of this, grandpa!”

Harry shook his head: “No manners to speak of. Too bad.”

He raised his arm and reached for his watch: “Last chance. Put your weapon down and release him.”

The guy just stared at him wild-eyed. A second later, he yelped and dropped his weapon, pawing at his neck, then he just keeled over and landed on the wet ground with a heavy thud.

Two of Jora's men lunged for their weapons, but Harry, never missing a beat, brandished his umbrella, caught one of them by the throat and forcefully swung him around so that he collided headfirst with the other one with an audible crack.

Eggsy and Mac meanwhile secured Jora and the rest of the guys while Jack was still stemming the door shut.

“A little help here, guys,” he groaned, and Mac briefly disappeared from view again, which was rather nerve-wracking for Jack. Fortunately, Mac soon reappeared with an iron pole that they used to block the door, which wasn't that easy because the guys inside were doing their best to get out.

When it was finally in place, they sagged.

“You okay?” Jack asked, panting.

“Yeah, you?” Mac grimaced. “Sorry about that guy. Getting caught twice in one day is not exactly my personal best.”

Jack sighed: “Gotta admit that we'd have been in quite the pickle if Lancelot over there hadn't saved our butts.”

“I think it's Galahad.”

“Whatever, it's one of them Round Table guys.” He lowered his voice: “Bit weird too, if you ask me.”

Harry and Eggsy now approached them: “Harry Hart,” Harry said, extending his hand. “Pleased to meet you. Merlin already filled me in on the situation.”

After introductions, Harry looked at Eggsy: “Plane's ready to leave as soon as the rest of these merry gentlemen is being taken care of.”

“Tac team's five minutes out,” Merlin provided.

“Good. Now, if you excuse me,” Harry said, “I'm going to have a word with Mr. Jora.” He walked over to where Jora was sitting, leaning against the wall and glaring up at him.

Jack turned to Mac: “And what are _we_ gonna do about exfil, hoss?”

Before Mac could answer, Eggsy inclined his head: “We could give you a lift.”

Mac looked from him to Jack: “That'd probably be easiest.”

“Great,” Eggsy smiled. “That way, you can tell me a bit more about your 'think tank'.”

“Sure,” Mac replied. “If you tell us more about your 'tailor shop'.”

They laughed, then Jack clapped Eggsy on the shoulder: “Seriously, dude, thank you for your help.”

“Likewise,” Eggsy replied. He regarded Mac, who couldn't hide how battered and exhausted he was by now; his clothes were still damp too, so he was shivering: “You okay, bruv?”

“Yeah.” Mac rubbed his eyes. “Just tired.”

Jack gave him a stern look even as he put his arm around him: “I'll have a look at you on that plane. Eggsy, you got a First Aid kit on board?”

“That,” Eggsy said, “and the best whisky you ever had. You know, to take the edge off.” He grinned.

“My man,” Jack said contentedly, holding his fist out for a bump.

Mac just rolled his eyes, albeit leaning into Jack not so subtly, grateful for the support and warmth.

“How were you planning on getting away at all?” Eggsy asked once they were in the air and Jack had taken care of Mac. Who was now wrapped in a soft, thick dressing gown and a blanket while his clothes were drying.

He and Jack exchanged a look: “Oh, we usually improvise. Find a car...”

“Or, in one memorable case, a portable toilet.”

“Right. And then there was that trampoline...”

Eggsy looked as if he wasn't sure they weren't messing with him.

Jack raised his hands: “Don't look at me, it's usually Mac who comes up with the crazy ideas.”

“And they usually work, don't they?”

“Yeah, gotta hand it to you.” Jack flashed him a smile. "What _he_ does with his gadgets," he motioned towards Eggsy, " _you_ do with your little knife."

Mac frowned: "That's not exactly comparable."

"True, you don't have those tiny little darts that can knock people out, for example. Maybe we can retrofit your knife with some of those, that'd be so awesome!"

Mac laughed quietly: "I'll look into it."

Just then, Harry came back from the flight deck after having talked to the pilot about the rendez-vous with Jack's and Mac's exfil in England.

He sat down next to Eggsy: “Well done, Galahad,” he said softly.

Eggsy beamed at him, and Jack tactfully looked away: seemed like those two had a similar relationship as he and Mac.

Who made himself comfortable in his seat with measured movements now; Jack could tell that he was flagging, and he himself was rather tired as well. They still had a few hours to spare till London, however.

“So,” he said, leaning back in his seat. “About that umbrella... How does that work, exactly?”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm not a Native Speaker, therefore I apologize for any mistakes.
> 
> I'm so relieved I finally finished this, it took me ages to write. Oh, and in my headcanon, both Merlin and Jack are alive!


End file.
